Impairment blamed for rash of driving mishaps

Police are blaming impairment for a rash of driving mishaps on the weekend, including a flipped car, a severely damaged traffic pole, a damaged guard rail, speeding and erratic driving.

Five people are facing charges in four separate incidents between Saturday and early Sunday morning.

Sunday at 2 a.m. police saw a 2007 Chevrolet traveling east on Seminole Street at 80 to 90 kilometres per hour in a 50 zone.

Officers stopped the car at Pillette Road and Reginald Street. They say they found a 22-year-old male driver and 29-year-old male passenger who appeared to be under the influence and were acting suspicious, police said.

Officers found a jar on the car floor with a small amount of marijuana and a marijuana grinder.

Police said a drug recognition officer confirmed the driver was under the influence of a drug.

Charges of impaired driving, dangerous driving and possession of a narcotic are being pursued.

About the same time, police were tending to a flipped 2002 Chrysler at Dougall Avenue and Eugenie Street.

Officers found the upside down car in the middle of the road and a severely damaged traffic signal and pole.

The driver sustained minor injuries. Police administered a roadside breathalyzer which resulted in a three-day suspension.

The 40-year-old male driver from Windsor was also charged with careless driving.

The damage to the car and pole is estimated at $20,000.

In yet another incident, police are thanking a citizen who contacted officers about an erratic driver in a 1988 Corvette traveling at high speeds on E.C. Row near Central Avenue.

Shortly after the call, about 6 p.m. Saturday, officers say they located the driver in South Windsor on Dominion Boulevard.

The driver ignored police, at first refusing to pull over, officers said.

He was eventually pulled over and blew nearly two-and-a-half times over the legal blood alcohol limit, police said.

Police charged the 52-year-old man with impaired driving and impounded his car for seven days.

At about 4 a.m. Saturday, a 23-year-old woman was arrested for impaired driving after falling asleep at the wheel then hitting a guard rail and a concrete barrier while driving on E.C. Row.

The Windsor woman had been stopped in her car at a red light waiting to turn onto Central Avenue from E.C. Row, said police. A witness reported to police that when the light turned green, the car did not move. The witness honked and pulled up alongside the car, discovering that the 23-year-old appeared to be passed out at the wheel, said police.

While the light turned back to red, the witness honked again, causing the woman to awaken and drive through the red light, said police. Rather than turning onto Central, the woman drove straight into a guard rail and then continued driving east on the E.C. Row.

Police said the woman was seen swerving about on the E.C. Row with a flattened tire and at one point struck a concrete barrier on the overpass at Jefferson Blvd. As she continued along the expressway, her flattened tire spewed smoke and eventually almost came off as she passed Banwell Road, said police.

The woman was stopped by Windsor police just inside Tecumseh. She was arrested and faces charges of impaired driving. Her car was impounded.

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